A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has
specialised knowledge in the field of neuroscience, the branch of
biology[1] that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, anatomy and
molecular biology of neurons and neural circuits and especially their
association with behaviour and learning.[2]

Neuroscientists generally work as researchers within a college,
university, government agency, or private industry setting.[3] In
research-oriented careers, neuroscientists typically spend their time
designing and carrying out scientific experiments that contribute to
the understanding of the nervous system and its function. They can
engage in basic or applied research.
Basic researchBasic research seeks to add
information to our current understanding of the nervous system,
whereas applied research seeks to address a specific problem, such as
developing a treatment for a neurological disorder.
Biomedically-oriented neuroscientists typically engage in applied
research. Neuroscientists also have a number of career opportunities
outside the realm of research, including careers in industry, science
writing, government program management, science advocacy, and
education.[4] These individuals most commonly hold doctorate degrees
in the sciences, but may also hold a master's degree.

Neuroscientists focus primarily on the study and research of the
nervous system. The nervous system is composed of the brain, spinal
cord and nerve cells. Studies of the nervous system may focus on the
cellular level, as in studies of the ion channels, or instead may
focus on a systemic level as in behavioural or cognitive studies. A
significant portion of nervous system studies is devoted to
understanding the diseases that affect the nervous system, like
multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Lou Gehrig's.
Research commonly occurs in private, government and public research
institutions and universities.[5]
Some common tasks for neuroscientists are:[6]

Developing experiments and leading groups of people in supporting
roles
Conducting theoretical and computational neuronal data analysis
Research and development of new treatments for neurological disorders
Working with doctors to perform experimental studies of new drugs on
willing patients
Following safety and sanitation procedures and guidelines
Dissecting experimental specimens

Salary[edit]
The overall median salary for neuroscientists in the United States was
$79,940 in May 2014[where?]. Neuroscientists are usually full-time
employees. Below, median salaries for common work places in the United
States are shown.[6]

Common Work Places
Median Annual Pay

Colleges and universities
$58,140

Hospitals
$73,590

Laboratories
$82,700

Research and Development
$90,200

Pharmaceutical
$150,000

Work environment[edit]
Neuroscientists research and study both the biological and
psychological aspects of the nervous system.[6] Once neuroscientists
finish their post doctoral programs, 39% go on to perform more
doctoral work, while 36% take on faculty jobs.[7] Neuroscientists use
a wide range of mathematical methods, computer programs, biochemical
approaches and imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging,
computed tomography angiography, and diffusion tensor imaging.[8]
Imaging techniques allow scientists to observe physical changes in the
brain, as signals occur. Neuroscientists can also be part of several
different neuroscience organizations where they can publish and read
different research topics.
Job outlook[edit]
NeuroscienceNeuroscience is expecting a job growth of about 8% from 2014 to 2024,
a considerably average job growth rate when compared to other
professions. Factors leading to this growth include an aging
population, new discoveries leading to new areas of research, and an
increasing utilization of medications. Government funding for research
will also continue to influence the demand for this specialty.[6]
Education[edit]
Neuroscientists typically enroll in a four-year undergraduate program
and then move on to a PhD program for graduate studies. Once finished
with their graduate studies, neuroscientists may continue doing
postdoctoral work to gain more lab experience and explore new
laboratory methods. In their undergraduate years, neuroscientists
typically take physical and life science courses to gain a foundation
in the field of research. Typical undergraduate majors include
biology, behavioral neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience.[9]
Many colleges and universities now have PhD training programs in the
neurosciences, often with divisions between cognitive, cellular and
molecular, computational and systems neuroscience.
Interdisciplinary fields[edit]
NeuroscienceNeuroscience has a unique perspective in that it can be applied in a
broad range of disciplines, and thus the fields neuroscientists work
in vary. Neuroscientists may study topics from the large hemispheres
of the brain to neurotransmitters and synapses occurring in neurons at
a micro-level. Some fields that combine psychology and neurobiology
include cognitive neuroscience, and behavioural neuroscience.
Cognitive neuroscientists study human consciousness, specifically the
brain, and how it can be seen through a lens of biochemical and
biophysical processes.[10] Behaviorial neuroscience encompasses the
whole nervous system, environment and the brain how these areas show
us aspects of motivation, learning, and motor skills along with many
others.[11]
History[edit]
Egyptian understanding and early Greek philosophers[edit]

Hieroglyphic stating the word, "brain", dated to 1700 BC. This work is
considered a copy of an original writing as old as 3000 BC.

Some of the first writings about the brain come from the Egyptians. In
about 3000 BC the first known written description of the brain also
indicated that the location of brain injuries may be related to
specific symptoms. This document contrasted common theory at the time.
Most of the Egyptians' other writings are very spiritual, describing
thought and feelings as responsibilities of the heart. This idea was
widely accepted and can be found into 17th century Europe.[12]
PlatoPlato believed that the brain was the locus of mental processes.
However,
AristotleAristotle believed instead the heart to be the source of
mental processes and that the brain acted as a cooling system for the
cardiovascular system.[13]
Galen[edit]
In the Middle Ages,
GalenGalen made a considerable impact on human anatomy.
In terms of neuroscience,
GalenGalen described the seven cranial nerves'
functions along with giving a foundational understanding of the spinal
cord. When it came to the brain, he believed that sensory sensation
was caused in the middle of the brain, while the motor sensations were
produced in the anterior portion of the brain.
GalenGalen imparted some
ideas on mental health disorders and what caused these disorders to
arise. He believed that the cause was backed-up black bile, and that
epilepsy was caused by phlegm. Galen's observations on neuroscience
were not challenged for many years.[14]
Medieval European beliefs and Andreas Vesalius[edit]
Medieval beliefs generally held true the proposals of Galen, including
the attribution of mental processes to specific ventricles in the
brain. Functions of regions of the brain were defined based on their
texture and composition: memory function was attributed to the
posterior ventricle, a harder region of the brain and thus a good
place for memory storage.[12]
Andreas VesaliusAndreas Vesalius redirected the study of neuroscience away from the
anatomical focus; he considered the attribution of functions based on
location to be crude. Pushing away from the superficial proposals made
by
GalenGalen and medieval beliefs, Vesalius did not believe that studying
anatomy would lead to any significant advances in the understanding of
thinking and the brain.[12]
Current and developing research topics[edit]
Research in neuroscience is expanding and becoming increasingly
interdisciplinary. Many current research projects involve the
integration of computer programs in mapping the human nervous system.
The
National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored Human Connectome
Project, launched in 2009, hopes to establish a highly detailed map of
the human nervous system and its millions of connections. Detailed
neural mapping could lead the way for advances in the diagnosis and
treatment of neurological disorders.
Neuroscientists are also at work studying epigenetics, the study of
how certain factors that we face in our everyday lives not only affect
us and our genes but also how they will affect our children and change
their genes to adapt to the environments we faced.
Behavioral and developmental studies[edit]
Neuroscientists have been working to show how the brain is far more
elastic and able to change than we once thought. They have been using
work that psychologists previously reported to show how the
observations work, and give a model for it.

L-phenylalanine

One recent behavioral study is that of phenylketonuria (PKU), a
disorder that heavily damages the brain due to toxic levels of the
amino acid phenylalanine. Before neuroscientists had studied this
disorder, psychologists did not have a mechanistic understanding as to
how this disorder caused high levels of the amino acid and thus
treatment was not well understood, and oftentimes, was inadequate. The
neuroscientists that studied this disorder used the previous
observations of psychologists to propose a mechanistic model that gave
a better understanding of the disorder at the molecular level. This in
turn led to better understanding of the disorder as a whole and
greatly changed treatment that led to better lives for patients with
the disorder.[15]
Another recent study was that of mirror neurons, neurons that fire
when mimicking or observing another animal or person that is making
some sort of expression, movement, or gesture. This study was again
one where neuroscientists used the observations of psychologists to
create a model for how the observation worked. The initial observation
was that newborn infants mimicked facial expressions that were
expressed to them. Scientists were not certain that newborn infants
were developed enough to have complex neurons that allowed them to
mimic different people and there was something else that allowed them
to mimic expressions. Neuroscientists then provided a model for what
was occurring and concluded that infants did in fact have these
neurons that fired when watching and mimicking facial expressions.[15]
Effects of early experience on the brain[edit]
Neuroscientists have also studied the effects of "nurture" on the
developing brain. Saul Schanberg and other neuroscientists did a study
on how important nurturing touch is to the developing brains in rats.
They found that the rats who were deprived of nurture from the mother
for just one hour had reduced functions in processes like DNA
synthesis and hormone secretion.[15]
Michael MeaneyMichael Meaney and his colleagues found that the offspring of mother
rats who provided significant nurture and attention tended to show
less fear, responded more positively to stress, and functioned at
higher levels and for longer times when fully mature. They also found
that the rats who were given much attention as adolescents also gave
their offspring the same amount of attention and thus showed that rats
raised their offspring similar to how they were raised. These studies
were also seen on a microscopic level where different genes were
expressed for the rats that were given high amounts of nurture and
those same genes were not expressed in the rats who received less
attention.[15]
The effects of nurture and touch were not only studied in rats, but
also in newborn humans. Many neuroscientists have performed studies
where the importance of touch is show in newborn humans. The same
results that were shown in rats, also held true for humans. Babies
that received less touch and nurture developed slower than babies that
received a lot of attention and nurture. Stress levels were also lower
in babies that were nurtured regularly and cognitive development was
also higher due to increased touch.[15] Human offspring, much like rat
offspring, thrive off of nurture, as shown by the various studies of
neuroscientists.
Famous neuroscientists[edit]
Neuroscientists awarded Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine[edit]

Camillo GolgiCamillo Golgi and
Santiago Ramón y CajalSantiago Ramón y Cajal (1906) for the development
of the silver staining method, revealing what would later be
determined as individual neurons. Cajal's interpretations of the
images produced by Golgi's staining technique led to the adoption of
the neuron doctrine.[16]
Charles Sherrington and
Edgar AdrianEdgar Adrian (1932) for their discoveries of
the general function of neurons, including excitatory and inhibitory
signals, and the all-or-nothing response of nerve fibers.[17]
Sir Henry Dale and
Otto LoewiOtto Loewi (1936) for the discovery of
neurotransmitters and identification of acetylcholine.[18]
Joseph ErlangerJoseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser (1944) for discoveries illustrating
the varied timing exhibited by single nerve fibers.[19]
Alan Hodgkin, Andrew Huxley, and Sir John Eccles (1963) for
discovering the ionic basis of the action potential and macroscopic
currents through their use of the squid giant axon.[20]
Sir Bernard Katz,
Ulf von EulerUlf von Euler and
Julius AxelrodJulius Axelrod (1970) for the
discovery of the mechanisms responsible for neurotransmitter storage,
release, and inactivation. Their work included the discovery of the
synaptic vesicle and quantal neurotransmitter release.[21]
Stanley Cohen and
Rita Levi-MontalciniRita Levi-Montalcini (1986) for their discovery of
nerve growth factor (NGF) as well as epidermal growth factor
(EGF).[22]
Erwin NeherErwin Neher and
Bert SakmannBert Sakmann (1991) for the development of the
patch-clamp recording technique, allowing, for the first time, the
observation of current flow through individual ion channels. Neher and
Sakmann additionally characterized the specificity of ion
channels.[23]
Arvid Carlsson,
Paul GreengardPaul Greengard and
Eric KandelEric Kandel (2000) for the
discovery of neural signal transduction pathways upon neurotransmitter
binding, as well as the establishment of dopamine as a primary acting
neurotransmitter.[24]
John O'Keefe,
Edvard I. MoserEdvard I. Moser and
May-Britt MoserMay-Britt Moser (2014) for their
discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the
brain.[25]

Neuroscientists in popular culture[edit]

Victor Frankenstein, title character of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D, main character in CBS's The Big Bang Theory

Interview with Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug
Abuse. "Nora Volkow: Motivated Neuroscientist" in Molecular
Interventions (2004) Volume 4, pages 243-247.
Women in neuroscience research from the NIH Office of Science
Education.
To Become a
NeuroscientistNeuroscientist maintained by Eric Chudler at the
UniversityUniversity of Washington.